For four years, Kelly, 56, had lent his name and face to a public lobbying effort by medicinal-marijuana proponents to persuade lawmakers and residents to make Massachusetts the 18th state to eliminate civil and criminal penalties for marijuana use by people with cancer, Parkinson's disease, AIDS and other conditions determined by a doctor.

"It's absolutely wonderful news," Kelly said after the measure passed overwhelmingly, with 63 percent of the vote. "It's such a simple way to make people's lives a little bit better."

The new law calls for the state's Department of Public Health to establish ground rules and supervise up to 35 medicinal-marijuana distribution centers that will be permitted to operate in Massachusetts in 2013, starting after May 1.

"For the people who'll benefit by this, I can tell you there are many happy and encouraged citizens across the state today," Kelly said.

Kelly counts himself among a large number of veterans who suffer from hepatitis C that was likely contracted through the assembly-line vaccinations of recruits that were once routinely given by military doctors using air-gun needles they didn't bother to clean.

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For Kelly, hepatitis C symptoms, combined with the lingering effects of a brain injury suffered when a modular retail-store wall fell on him at work in a Burlington shoe store five years ago, often make him dizzy, nauseous and unable to eat properly, he said.

His best remedy to restore a healthy appetite is to take "a few hits" from a small marijuana joint he's able to obtain regularly from a black-market supplier, he said.

"I don't smoke a lot," Kelly said. "I smoke only when I'm dizzy or get nauseous or if I'm in a lot of pain. I take a hit or two, and that's it. I put it out, and I'm good for a day or two."

For medicinal-marijuana users, the new law will not only remove the criminal stigma from possessing the drug, but should also produce a boost in quality and lowering of price, Kelly hopes. Even it is subject to state or federal tax.

"If it gets taxed and the revenue gets used for a good purpose, I'm all for it," Kelly said. "We're in a financial mess. However they can make things better, if this helps, then I'm all for it."

In addition to Kelly writing letters to the editor of various newspapers and giving news interviews, his patient profile appeared on the website of the Boston-based Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, which was also celebrating passage of Question 3 this week.

"The people of Massachusetts have spoken, and we are ready to begin crafting regulation and oversight procedures," Matt Allen, executive director of the alliance, said Thursday. "We look forward to working closely with patients and the state to ensure an implementation process that will make the Massachusetts medical-marijuana program the safest and most secure medical-treatment program in the country."

Already fielding inquiries about the licensing process for the 35 treatment centers the new law allows, Massachusetts Public Health's interim commissioner, Dr. Lauren Smith, promised the department will work in the coming months with health-care and public-safety officials to develop "smart and balanced" ground rules for medicinal marijuana use," Smith wrote.

Massachusetts will also draw on other states' experiences, "and put a system in place that's right for Massachusetts," Smith said.

On Jan. 2, Massachusetts will become the 18th state in the nation to go the medicinal-marijuana route, following the leads of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, plus the District of Columbia.

Meanwhile, in neighboring New Hampshire, medicinal-marijuana proponents were highly encouraged about their chances for making the Granite State number 19 on the list due to Maggie Hassan's victory as governor-elect.

Throughout her 2012 campaign, Hassan voiced support for the same medicinal-marijuana legislation that her Democratic predecessor, Gov. John Lynch, twice vetoed.

Hassan said her meetings with patients -- in particular, one mother whose disabling illness prevented her from making lunch for her small children and getting them off to school -- convinced her to vote to legalize medical marijuana in 2009, when she was a state senator, despite the objections of New Hampshire law-enforcement officials.

Hassan, Smith and Kelly all said there's a major difference between making the drug available for medical purposes and legalizing it for everyone.

"I have lots of questions about legalizing marijuana entirely," Kelly said. "I'm not sure that's a great idea. But just for people that have medical issues? To me, it's a no-brainer."

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